American Missionary Rescued by Navy Seals in Nigeria
On October 27, a missionary named Phillip Walton, was at his home in the town of Birnin Konni, Niger. This town is near the border with Nigeria. He was there with his family, when gunmen entered his home early that morning and ultimately abducted him.
While his family was safe, he was missing for several days. The kidnappers finally released a ransom request of one million dollars, and said that if the ransom was not paid, they would turn him over to one of the extremist groups operating in northern Nigeria.
On Saturday October 31, the US navy Seals were sent to rescue Philip from the abductors. According to Jonathan Hoffman, the public affairs assistant to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, “This American citizen (Philip) is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State… No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation.”
Thankfully, this abduction ended with the safe return of Philip, who is still in the care of the State Department. These kinds of kidnappings often end either with the payment of a large ransom, which is then used to sponsor further terrorism, or with the death of the abductee.
Source: ICC
